Many suggestions have been made to use heat pumps for space heating. The effectiveness on an annual basis of all known heat pumps is however so low that they do not achieve a heating cost lower than that achieved by burner-operated heating devices.
The aim of the invention is to devise a heating system operated by heat pumps which does not have this disadvantage but can compete, as regards heat cost, with coal, oil or gas heated heating devices and which requires practically no maintenance.
The invention takes into consideration requirements to be met when the heat pump is to be substituted to a large extent for heating devices operated by burners. These requirements are:
1. A heat pump to be installed in a flat, should operate noiselessly. The noise of fans is not determined by the speed or air needed for heat exchange but by the speed of air needed to blow away the condensate being formed. PA1 2. A heat pump installation should require practically no maintenance. PA1 3. The temperature difference between the available and required heat should be as small as possible. PA1 4. The efficiency of the heat pump should be as high as possible. PA1 5. The working life should, as far as possible, be the same as that of heating boilers.
The invention relates to heat pumps which meet these requirements.